Question

Started in 1636, Harvard University is the oldest of all the many colleges and universities in the United States. Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Dartmouth were opened soon after Harvard.

In the early years, these schools were much alike. Only young men went to colleges. All the students studied the same subjects, and everyone learned Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Little was known about science then, and one kind of school could teach everything that was known about the world. When the students graduated, most of them become ministers or teachers.

In 1782, Harvard started a medical school for young men who wanted to become doctors. Later, lawyers could receive their training in Harvard’s law school. In 1825, besides Latin and Greek, Harvard began teaching modern languages, such as French and German. Soon it began teaching American history.

As knowledge increased, Harvard and other colleges began to teach many new subjects. Students were allowed to choose the subjects that interested them.

Today there are many different kinds of colleges and universities. Most of them are made up of smaller schools that deal with special fields of learning. There’s so much to learn that one kind of school can’ offer it all.

1.From the second paragraph, we can see that in the early years, ______.

A. those colleges and universities were almost the same

B. people, young or old, might study in the colleges

C. the students studied only some languages and science

D. when the students finished their school, they became lawyers or teachers

2.As knowledge increased, colleges began to teach ______.

A. everything that was known

B. law and something about medicine

C. many new subjects

D. the subjects that interested students

3.On the whole, the passage is about ______.

A. how to start a university

B. the world-famous colleges in America

C. how colleges have changed

D. what kind of lessons each college teaches

Answer

1. A

2. D

3. C

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。这篇短文主要介绍了哈佛大学始于1636年，在美国是最古老的学院。耶鲁、普林斯顿、哥伦比亚大学和达特茅斯在哈佛后不久就建立了。这些大学在建成后的初期，只有男士可以入校学习，所教科目比较单一，对科学是知之甚少。随着社会的发展，这些大学建立了更小的学校以教给学生不同领域的知识。

1.细节理解题。由第二段开头三句"In the early years，these schools were much alike．Only young men went to college．All the students studied the same subjects，and everyone learned Latin，Greek and Hebrew．"可知，早期的大学都很相似，只有年轻男子可以上大学，所有学生学习一样的课程，故正确答案为A。

2.推理判断题。由倒数第二段"As knowledge increased，Harvard and other colleges began to teach many new subjects．Students were allowed to choose the subjects that interested them．"可知，随着知识积累的增加，大学开始教授学生们许多新课程，学生可以从中选择他们喜欢的课程，D项与原文一致，故正确答案为D。

3.主旨大意题。由文中每段开头 In the early years、In 1782、As knowledge increased 和 Today 可知，文章从大学最初的少数的单一形态，到后来学校的数量越来越多，而且所教的科目也越来越多，到现如今大学里由多种不同的学院、学科，多到一所学校不能教的完全，全文依据时间顺序介绍了大学的变化，故正确答案为C。